The staff at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge east of Decatur told us they had counted as high as 20,000 Sandhills cranes in late December. Also have seen 18 Whooping Cranes this year.
I asked how did they count them and they use aerial photography with drones, run the photos through some kind of tabulating program and get an approximate headcount that way, with a plus or minus error of 10 %.
If you’ve never seen them it’s worth a drive to Decatur.
View attachment 33728View attachment 33729View attachment 33730View attachment 33731
I didn’t have my binoculars but a guy in the photography blind said there were a pair of Whooping Cranes in the 3rd picture but a long way out of IPhone range.